People in Korea must have suffered a lot last night. Three different channels – namely SBS, KBS, and MBC – each released new drama series, giving people hard times choosing which to watch first. Here is how the competition went last night.
Legend of the Blue Sea
Nielsen rating: 16.4%
As expected, Legend of the Blue Sea had the highest Nielsen rating, reaching 16.4% on the first day of broadcasting. The drama featuring top stars, Lee Min-ho and Jun Ji-hyun, is a fantasy romance presenting the romantic relationship between mermaid and a con man.
Krystal, who starred in The Heirs with Lee Min-ho, made a cameo appearance, supporting the drama to reach such a high rating.
My Fair Lady (Oh My Geum-Bi)
Nielsen rating: 5.9%
Is Wednesday/Thursday Korean drama is a competition between two con men? My Fair Lady, which is also known as Oh My Geum-Bi, got the second highest viewer rating.
If Legend of the Blue Sea has Lee Min-ho as their gorgeous con man, My Fair Lady has Oh Ji-ho, who acts the single father con man, Mo Hwi-chul. Distinguished from the two romance dramas, this drama focuses on the father-daughter relationship. Featuring Heo Jung-eun as a daughter suffering from Childhood Alzheimer and Oh Ji-ho as an immature father, My Fair Lady is presenting audiences a heartwarming winter.
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo
Nielsen rating: 3.3%
Despite its fair casts featuring YG label-mates Lee Sung-kyung and Nam Joo-hyuk, the series premiere of Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo didn’t go as well as expected.
Even at the initial stage of production, the drama had brought controversies over the casting of the female lead. As the drama is inspired by the life of Olympic gold-medalist Jang Mi-ran, people were concerned that starring Lee Sung-kyung to act the character inspired by the acclaimed weightlifter may harm the reputation of Jang Mi-ran and encourage lookism.
However, some still favored this coming-of-age sports romance drama over other two, especially for its delightful storyline and casting of two trendy stars.
Let’s keep an eye on them and see which one of them is worth watching. Well, maybe I will end up watching all three.
By Heewon Kim
